


quiescence

by Obsessionista



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Comfort, Family Fluff, Gen, Insomnia, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27574678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsessionista/pseuds/Obsessionista
Summary: Peony can't sleep at night, but that is nothing unusual for him.But as it turns out, Nia can't sleep either.
Relationships: Peony & Shakuya | Peonia
Comments: 13
Kudos: 32





	quiescence

**Author's Note:**

> this just randomly popped into my brain and i thought it'd be nice to write it as a quick warm-up before continuing to write some more stuff for my other fics
> 
> but yeah, do you ever think about how peony like... seems to have a sleeping problem? whats with him using weird stuff as pillows and passing out randomly and bringing up sleep often when you show him certain legendary pokemon? bc i do

Peony turned over in his bed. Multiple times. Threw a glance at his alarm clock that told him it was around 2 AM. Then, he sat up in his bed.

He couldn't sleep. Again.

It was always the same. A restless night, followed by him passing out later during the day, likely at the most inconvenient time and in the weirdest place. He knows this cycle so well, it's been with him almost all his life now after all.

But he figured pure sleeplessness was better than the phases he went through where he was plagued by night terrors. Phases where he could catch at least a little of sleep, but it came at the price of being filled with horrors that made him kick around and cry and scream until someone came to wake him up.  
At least as a child he's had his mother and brother to comfort him afterwards, and later he had his wife. But he always felt so bad when he woke up in the middle of the night to see their worried faces leaning over him. He knows he cost them all a lot of sleep, too.

It's not like he hasn't tried to get help for it all. He's been to countless doctors and therapists, who tried to attribute his sleep problems to all sorts of things, from a wrong diet to childhood trauma to something about chemicals in his brain that Peony couldn't even begin to understand. They recommended him strange food to eat, sent him to lots of different therapies, and prescribed him many kinds of medication, until Peony couldn't take it anymore. He just grew too tired of it all. But unfortunately only mentally, as his sleeping problems stayed with him the entire time. 

There was one time where he was almost thankful for his condition, however. After his dear daughter Nia was born, she needed lots of attention, and cried both day and night for her parents. So he came up with the idea that his wife could take care and watch over her during the day and he could do it at night, since he couldn't fall asleep anyway and didn't want her to lose any sleep too, and she agreed to it.

Peony remembers that time fondly. It never fails to make him feel warm inside when he thinks of lifting up this crying little baby, his precious Nia, and cradling her in his arms until she calmed down. Seeing her doze off again in his arms always made him feel more relaxed, too.

He sighed. How he misses those days right now. Sadly, all his options now were lying in bed and staring at the ceiling until morning or taking a walk in hopes of at least tiring his body out a little more. With nothing better to do, he decided to go for the latter.

After getting up and putting on some warm clothes, he was surprised to find that the lights in the cabin were on as he stepped out of his bedroom. He quickly found out why, as he saw Nia standing in the kitchen when he stepped around the corner. She looked like she just got of bed too, her hair dishevelled with even more curls sticking out than usual, and she was still in her sleepwear, a soft pink nightgown Peony had sewn for her a little while ago. He remembered when she first got it from him and was put off by it, saying it looked kinda tacky and old-fashioned, but she quickly took a liking to it anyway due to the cozy material he picked for it.

"Nia?"

She quickly turned around, apparently startled. 

"Ugh, dad, did you have to sneak up on me like this?"

He gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry! Your old man just can't sleep and decided he could go for a walk. Didn't think you'd be up this late too."

She sighed. "Yeah... I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep either, so I thought I'd make myself some tea before trying again."

"Good idea, a nice hot cup of tea can really soothen the nerves sometimes..." He smiled, before giving her a bit of a worried look. "Any reason you woke up, though? Heard anything weird outside? Got some thoughts troubling you?"

There was a pause. Nia fiddled around with something on the countertops, trying to fix herself up her mug of tea, before she spoke up again.

"I... had a nightmare. I dunno if it's anything worth talking about though..."

"Nia..."

He stepped towards her, and put a hand on her back, slowly rubbing it back and forth as if to calm her. Of course she could talk to him about anything. And she knew that. But he knew that this was pretty much her way of saying she didn't want to talk about it or wasn't ready to at least, and he respected that.

They stood like this for a bit, with Peony gently comforting her while she finished making her tea, and they watched the steam rise from the mug in silence. 

Eventually, he remembered what he got up for in the first place, and turned towards the door. He was sure Nia could perhaps want some space, anyway.

But when he put his hand on the door handle, he felt something tug at the back of the sweater he wore. To his surprise, he saw that it was Nia, holding him back. They stood still again for a few moments, just looking at each other, before Nia grimaced as if the next words she spoke were hard for her to say.

"Could you... could you perhaps stay? Just for a bit..."

Even these simple words tugged at his heart already. Her not wanting him to go and instead stay at her side made him both incredibly happy and somewhat worried. His little girl really seemed to need her dad right now.  
It wasn't like this was the first time this ever happened, he remembers plenty of times when she was a child and she crawled into her parents bed, looking for comfort after she had a bad dream or couldn't sleep, and Peony did his best to give her said comfort, as he knew just too well how awful restless nights can be.  
But now she wasn't a small child anymore, but a young woman, who usually was too brave and prideful to admit weakness. Whatever she dreamed about this time must've been really bad, he figured.

"Of course I can," he said, and turned towards her to pull her into his arms.

He could've stayed like that forever, holding her like this, keeping her safe and sound in his arms. But he figured just standing there the whole night long would probably be a tad awkward.

He separated himself from her, as much as he didn't want to, and gave her his usual bright smile. 

"Well, let's make the best out of this situation then!" he said. "We could do something fun together! How about we play some board games? Or I could read you a bedtime story, just like when you were little! Or I could turn on the telly and see if there's anything interesting on! Or-"

Nia interrupted him. "TV sounds nice... even though there's probably only lame stuff on right now. But I wouldn't mind watching it for a bit." 

"Then its decided! Just go get yourself comfy and leave everything else up to your old man."

Soon, they were sitting in front of the TV, in a nest out of all the blankets and pillows Peony could find in the cabin, surrounded by snacks and hot drinks he fixed up for them. Peony wanted his darling daughter to be as comfortable as possible after all, and it seemed to work. She even laughed when a few minutes ago he stumbled into the living room looking like some sort of blanket monster as he carried all of them at once, and Peony couldn't have imagined a more beautiful sound than her laughter in that moment.

Nia was right about the television programme, though. It was mostly documentaries about topics neither of them cared about in the slightest, or re-runs of shows that were old and boring already when Peony was young. But it was a nice distraction nonetheless.

At one point Peony could feel her holding on to his arm, while her eyes where still fixed on the television screen. It again made him feel both warm inside and yet worried for her. Just as wordless, he decided to pull her close, lifting her half in his lap. He sort of expected her to complain about it, but she let it happen, only writhing a little to get more comfortable. 

After a while and some more old TV show episodes, he could hear her yawn, and he watched as she slowly drifted off into sleep. Just before she fell asleep entirely, he could also hear her mumble something, but it was too quiet and slurred to make it out. But in his heart, he knew just what she was trying to say.

"I love you too, Nia." he replied.

Just like when she was a baby, with her sleeping so peacefully in his arms, he couldn't help but also be at peace, and soon enough he dozed off as well. 

And for the first time in a while, he finally got a good, relaxing night of sleep.


End file.
